The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 498: Perceptibly Dangerous and Extra Information from the Abyss

That bird-girl takes me to her tree-house after our conversation. The way to get inside is a bit curious, since it’s not by flying as I expected or through a door, but a small hole that goes down into the base of the tree, and then we climb up inside it.

And inside is what I expected—no elaborate furniture, no decorations in general, it’s pretty empty with just some simple, functional pieces of furniture and a few scattered books. Of course, the place is clearly messy.

And from the claw marks on the walls and in some corners, you can tell she gets frustrated about not being able to organize properly. I seriously doubt she could with claws that sharp and no real arms, just wings with fingers at the tips, and those same fingers also have claws.

And of course, the destroyed books on the floor make it even more obvious. She’s so strong that her fragile house can’t handle her trying to tidy up. She might manage to grab things, but any wrong move makes her destroy what she’s holding.

"It’s here. I need you to tidy up... in exchange, I’ll tell you what you want to know..." she says while we’re at the top of the tree. The whole path to this place was pretty messy, but it’s interesting because it’s much more furnished than the spider-girl’s house.

"..." I glance to the side and see a nest made of some kind of material taken from trees, and in the nest are three very large eggs, too large to have come from the body of the bird-girl in front of me.

’With that size, I wonder what the old boss of this city was...’ The eggs are at least almost two meters tall, nearly my height.

"Don’t attack the eggs... or I’ll kill you... and I won’t give you any food..." she says, seeing me staring at the eggs.

"I don’t want that, no need to worry too much... By the way, why not use magic to tidy up?" There are various simple magics she could use for this.

"I don’t have any magic for that..." She just shrugs while moving around the place. I sniff the air, and the smell isn’t good.

Probably because we’re inside the tree without any holes for ventilation, there’s a somewhat bad smell. It’s strong, but I can’t quite say what the smell is, only that it stinks.

’Good thing my brain can now handle and process my hypersensitivity...’ I’m glad that problem was solved. I was worried about how sensitive my body was, and although it still is, now I can endure it.

"...You can start..." she says, perching on a large tree "branch" about four meters above the ground, like a bird’s perch.

"What did you say your name was again?" I ask while I start tidying the room, moving the furniture to more suitable positions since they’re clearly misaligned.

"Zhita’hna."

"What does that mean?" I don’t know that language. I understand it, but I don’t know the exact meaning those words should have, just like the spider-girl’s name. The way it’s pronounced is a bit strange.

"...[She Who Observes All]" She gives a very interesting meaning, one I think suits a bird.

"I see. So, what was the old boss of this village like?" I continue with questions after dragging some furniture back to their original positions. Soon, I go to the shelves and see the various books fallen on the floor.

"Strong. And big... Very strong... he almost killed me... but he saved me too... he let me stay here in exchange for help... an agreement... I took care of the eggs and could live here..."

"A pretty... fair deal, I guess. How many years have you been taking care of these eggs?" I briefly glance at the content of each book before placing them on the shelves.

"19,800."

"..."

’That’s a long time to be taking care of eggs...’ It seems Zhita’hna is much older than I imagined.

"How old are you?" I start with softer, calmer questions so she won’t refuse to answer more complex ones later.

"59,250 years."

"Oh, you’re much more... ancient... than I expected. How many years have you been the boss of this village?"

"3,299." She keeps her answers simple and short, but it’s not bad. I like that she doesn’t beat around the bush.

’These books are pretty useless in general...’ Her books are very simplistic content—no powerful magics, important history books, or things like that.

"Why do you still protect the eggs if the old boss died? He’s not here anymore to kill you." This makes me curious. Monsters aren’t really the type to be respectful of something that’s already dead.

"...I’m going to eat them when they hatch."

"...?"

"Why go through all the trouble of hatching them if you’re just going to eat them as soon as they come out of the eggs?" It seems very stupid to care for them for years just to eat them.

"Because they’re good... and rare..."

"How quickly does the ecosystem in the Abyss tend to change? And how often do the servants of the Abyss Goddess decide to hunt for sport?" I ask questions now more focused on the Abyss while I finish organizing all the books.

"Give it back."

"..."

"I saw. Give back the book your tail is stealing..." She notices even though I’m being careful. I return the book to its place while moving away, testing her.

’Much more observant than I’d like...’ It was an extremely precise, calculated, and controlled theft. Noticing was difficult even for someone stronger than me.

"The ecosystem in the Abyss never changes... what changes are the beings that live in that environment... the Abyss is eternal, immutable, and unstoppable... at most, it distorts, which makes it seem like it changed." She says something I hadn’t realized yet.

"Wait, are you saying any damage we cause to it actually regenerates over time, returning to its original state, rather than the ecosystem changing when powerful things fight?"

"Yes... regenerates... reconstructs itself to what it was before... never changes."

"Okay, and the other question?"

"Don’t know... depends... roughly between 100 years to 100,000 years... time in the Abyss is just a measurement number... it exists out there, but it doesn’t exist in here... time is irrelevant... here, 10 years may have passed, and a little ways off, millions of years may have passed."

"Time isn’t relevant in the Abyss... it could be any day... everything depends on the speed at which something passes at the point you’re at..." Her explanation is good.

"Wait, but then how do monsters that dig tunnels manage to live below the ground if it regenerates?" Now I’m doubtful.

"...They’re not digging tunnels... they’re making space..." She raises one wing, and with the fingers of her other wing, she points and pushes. With that, I see her finger going into her feathers.

"See? No hole. It went in. The movement made the feathers go to the sides... like that... made space. No holes... open space." Her choppy way of talking is a bit irritating, but I understand what she means.

"Curious..." I murmur, interested in how this works, because so far, with all the explanations I have, it means the Abyss itself is a living being. I know my mother literally fused with the Abyss, but that shouldn’t have made the Abyss behave like a living thing, right?

But it does behave. It’s as if it’s a great living being, just stagnated at some point, but still alive.

"Why don’t you become a servant of Goddess Echidna?" I wonder about the requirements for that.

"No... don’t want to... dangerous people and very strong... too strong... and lots of danger..." She speaks in a lower tone, as if she could be heard if she speaks too loudly, while I push a table to a more spacious spot.

"Do I seem strong to you?" This is a genuine doubt I have. How exactly do certain types of monsters see me?

"Strong... no, you’re weak... but... you smell like something dangerous... so in a fight, I’d kill you quickly... because you’re weak, but with a dangerous smell..." She easily perceives that long fights with me are a problem.

’So she doesn’t know I adapt, but understands that if she doesn’t kill me quickly, she’s at risk...’ That’s good to know. It means the monsters of the Abyss are unlikely to drag out a fight with me for fun, because their instincts say dragging it out is dangerous.

"Anything else to add?"

"You also smell like something tasty... makes me hungry..." At this part, I shudder, because undeniably my body is fatty, and fat is good, so I’m "tasty" in the worst sense of the word for monsters who want nutritious food.

"...That... that there smells tasty." She points at my breasts—literally two sacks of fat in the most literal sense, probably the most delicious part of my body, aside from the milk.

’No, no. Instead of being skittish and overly protective, I should use my body as an advantage...’ I hadn’t thought of this before, but my body, while a weakness, is also an advantage for luring monsters into traps, or as temporary bargaining currency.

Here in the Abyss, this hellhole full of dangers, any tiny thing that gives me an advantage must be used.

"Yes, I’m delicious. But you know, I can offer something much better to eat than my body." I only realized this just now, but she doesn’t plan to let me leave. That’s why she’s watching me so intently. She plans to devour me when our agreement ends.

"More delicious?" She tilts her head at an angle of almost 150 degrees, which is a bit creepy—not because of the angle, but because of the way her eyes fixate on me.

"Yes, something delicious that can only be taken from me if I’m alive."

"..." She seems to ponder what I’m saying.

"You are... perceptive." She realizes I’ve already figured out what she wants to do, and she’s also already realized I’m negotiating for my life. I have no way to fight or beat her, so an agreement is the best option.

’Although... maybe I could escape if...’ The flying island is a living being. I could just bore a hole into it and start eating my way inside its body to escape. Maybe I could even kill this island if the monster that is the island has low regeneration. I’d just need to devour important organs.

"What are you offering me?" she asks, staring into my eyes as if she wants to assess my soul. I look around and pick up something resembling a bowl, and then I squeeze my breasts into it.

It gives me a pleasant relief, because they were already too full and I needed to get the milk out. The bowl fills completely while I feel genuinely uncomfortable having to milk myself like this, especially being watched.

"Here, taste." I offer it to her. She seems briefly confused while staring at the bowl.